The professors at one university obviously have studied British philosopher Bernard Williams, who once wrote, “I like the word ‘indolence’. It makes my laziness seem classy.”

Ball State University faculty are taking their sweet time to approve procedures for firing “chronic low performers” in their ranks, The Star Press reports.

The university is trying to raise faculty pay to be more competitive with peers, but the lazy professors are dragging everyone else down:

Provost Terry King indicated seven months ago that a policy would be submitted to trustees for adoption no later than the fall semester of 2014.

But on Friday, King told trustees the proposal “is not there yet” and that more time is needed for discussion, assessment and vetting.

The school can’t fire professors who don’t improve without a policy change, and the trustees are getting impatient:

Trustee Tom Bracken from Muncie expressed concern about low-performing faculty continuing to teach while the policy is debated.

And trustee Matt Momper, Fort Wayne, raised concerns about low performers having “a horrible effect on morale” among the vast majority of faculty, whose performance is not substandard.

The new drop date for the rules is the spring semester.